Rupee Falls 14th Day in a Row Against US Dollar After Moody’s Warning

The Pakistani rupee fell 14th day in a row against the US Dollar today after opening trade at 287 in the interbank market.

At 11:30 PM, it was bearish, treading the 287 level against the greenback after losing ~Rs. 2 during early-day trade.

Later, the interbank rate eased to 283.5 between 1:30 PM and 2:30 PM before anchoring trends for the remainder of the day. Open market rates across multiple currency counters stood in the 285-289 range today.

At close, the PKR depreciated by 0.05 percent to close at 287.03 after losing 13 paisas against the dollar today.

The rupee closed in the red for the 14th consecutive day today.

Pertinently, the rupee is down nearly Rs. 70 since January 2023. Since April 2022, it is down over Rs. 117 against the greenback. As per exchange rate movements witnessed today, the PKR has lost over 13 paisas against the dollar.

Today’s losses come After Moody’s Investors Services said Pakistan is the most vulnerable to balance of payment (BOP) crises among the South Asian sovereigns.

The rating agency in its latest report ‘Sovereigns – South Asia Low trade openness fuels vulnerability to shocks and curbs growth in the longer run’ stated that Pakistan and Sri Lanka are the most vulnerable among the four sovereigns.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka have much weaker infrastructure compared with India, contributing to high costs of trade. Within South Asia, Pakistan and Bangladesh have the lowest level of exports at 10.5% and 12.9% of GDP, respectively, said the credit rating agency.

Moody’s said that the domestic political risks are also very high, which disrupt policymaking and weigh on their ability to attract foreign direct investments (FDI) to build and maintain adequate reserves.

The PKR was red against some of the other major currencies in the interbank market today. It lost four paisas against the Saudi Riyal (SAR), three paisas against the UAE Dirham (AED), and 25 paisas against the Euro (EUR)

Conversely, it gained 34 paisas against the Canadian Dollar (CAD), 95 paisas against the British Pound (GBP), and Rs. 1.96 against the Australian Dollar (AUD). in today’s interbank currency market.